Ashes and Snow

If you come to me at this moment
Your minutes will become hours
Your hours will become days
And your days will become a lifetime
To the Princess of the Elephants (…)

I saw promises I did not keep
Pains I did not sooth
Wounds I did not heal
Tears I did not shed
I saw deaths I did not mourn
Prayers I did not answer
Doors I did not open
Doors I did not close
Lovers I left behind
And dreams I did not live
I saw all that was offered to me,
that I could not accept
I saw the letters I wished for,
but never received
I saw all that could have been,
but never will be
An elephant with his trunk raised
is a letter to the stars
A breaching whale is a letter
from the bottom of the sea
These images are a letter to my dreams (…)

I want to see through the eyes of the elephant
I want to join the dance that has no steps
I want to become the dance
I can't tell if you are getting closer or farther away
I long for the serenity I found
when I looked upon your face
Perhaps if your face could be returned to me now,
I would find it easier to recover
the face I seemed to have lost
My own

Feather to fire
fire to blood
blood to bone
bone to marrow
marrow to ashes
ashes to snow

feather to fire
fire to blood
blood to bone
bone to marrow
marrow to ashes
ashes to snow

feather to fire
fire to blood
blood to bone
bone to marrow
marrow to ashes
ashes to snow

feather to fire
fire to blood
blood to bone
bone to marrow
marrow to ashes
ashes to snow

feather to fire
fire to blood
blood to bone
bone to marrow
marrow to ashes
ashes to snow

feather to fire
fire to blood
blood to bone
bone to marrow
marrow to ashes
ashes to snow

The whales do not sing because they have an answer.
They sing because they have a song.
What matters, is not
what is written on the page,
what matters, is
what is written in the heart.

So burn the letters
And lay their ashes on the snow
At the river's edge
When spring comes and the snow melts

Return to the banks of the river
And reread my letters with your eyes closed
Let the words and the images
wash over your body like waves
Reread the letters,
with your hand cupped over your ear
Listen to the songs of Eden
Page, after page, after page
Fly the bird path
Fly
Fly
Fly

Ashes and Snow.org

The Animal Copyright Foundation